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Although much has not been lost, we have a responsibility to maintain
traditional practices and keep the land at its former glory in a
way that has passed our desert and mountains over the centuries.
Local skills, local produce and local specialist outlets need support
to maintain a sense of continuity in these changing times. The local
people are the soul of the area, they should have the opportunity
to maintain their way of life with a dignity that respects their
contribution to the landscape so that we can all continue to benefit
from the qualities the area has to offer.
DN Tours supports local outlets in Turkmenistan, we buy local produce
where possible and we employ local labor to help us with our business.
By being successful in our business, we hope that we can demonstrate
to the world the unequalled beauty of this country and help enhance
our local community with its traditions and values.
We operate our holidays in some very beautiful places and we want
to keep them this way. We understand that Responsible Travel is
about respecting the different countries and cultures that our tourists
visit and about helping to give them the resources they need to
manage the long term future of the places that we all love to visit.
To do that, we have to demonstrate, in all that we do, that we care:
about people and their cultures and beliefs, about the environment,
about the communities in which we work, and about providing meaningful
journeys for our guests that will help them be informed travellers-and
maybe even change their lives. We strive to give back at least as
much as we take, to offer our tourists the opportunity to discover
and learn, and to leave no trace.
Our tourism can be a great boost to the local communities in which
we operate. We use only locally owned properties - many are family
owned and managed. We don't provide 'all inclusive' tours here where
possible, preferring to encourage our tourists to explore the local
environment and to bring much needed cash into the local community.
Our Aims:
1. minimize negative economic, environmental, and social impacts;
2. generate greater economic benefits for local people and enhance
the well-being of host communities, improve working conditions and
access to the industry;
3. involve local people in decisions that affect their lives and
life chances;
4. make positive contributions to the conservation of natural and
cultural heritage, to the maintenance of the world's diversity;
5. provide more enjoyable experiences for tourists through more
meaningful connections with local people, and a greater understanding
of local cultural, social and environmental issues;
6. provide access for physically challenged people;
7. engender respect between tourists and hosts, and build local
pride and confidence.
8. support breeders of rare animals (Akhalteke horses, Turkmen special
Dogs (Alabay and Tazy) with involving them to the tourism organizing
different activities (rides, shows/performances) for tourists on
their own farms;
9. support local culture such as folklore groups organizing different
shows/performances for tourists and tourist groups;
10. be good example for others (local operators/agencies, our partners,
local service offers and etc.) in responsible tourism;
What we do:
We use locally owned run accommodation and services by preference.
We aim to where possible purchase our equipment and food from locally
produced source.
We support local income generation and small business enterprises
by supporting locally owned shops and restaurants, and using local
guide services.
We encourage clients through our guides to act in a responsible
way and with an insight and understanding of the local/host destination.
We take into consideration economic, environmental and cultural
issues when looking at new destinations and developing new tours,
routes and programs.
We aim to ensure that our type and scale of tourism is appropriate
to local conditions and operate within the limits set by local appropriate
infrastructure and carrying capacity.
Economic Sustainability
DN Tours is committed to working with local communities and individuals
to use locally sourced products, services and skills thereby ensuring
that as much of the Overseas Operations Budget's of our partners as
possible remains within the host community. This is achieved by:
- Throughout the tours we use locally owned facilities, services
and accommodation where it is possible.
- We establish partnerships that are locally-owned and income-generating,
such as guiding, organizing cultural shows and wilderness outfitters
so that host communities derive direct economic benefit from our
visit.
- We work in conjunction with the local community to develop ownership
of self-employment that reveals new ideas and possibilities for local
community.
Environmental Responsibility
DN Tours is committed to the conservation of natural heritage,
the enhancement of biodiversity, the responsible use of natural
resources and the prevention of pollution and depart from any habitat,
urban or rural, leaving it as healthy or more healthy than when
our guests arrived.
We try to travel in small groups which limit the impact on fragile
communities and habitats.
Providing our guests with information and briefings containing
responsible travel tips through our guides we encourage our guests
to save water and re-use towels, save electricity, not to over-use
air conditioning, saving food in the desert trips and trekkings.
We advise guests:
to leave no waste where it possible and in the deserts and during
trekkings to bury litter digging holes deep min. 40sm or when it
is possible pack out all rubbish with the group;
advise guests not to buy souvenirs made from endangered plants or
animals, to avoid picking wild flowers ;
On our tours we no longer use old buses with air polluted engines
and where possible we use horses, donkeys and or just walk. During
all of the tours/treks our guides teach locals not to "throw
away" litters/rubbish being good examples picking up the left
litters where they see and putting them into their special "hand
bags" which all of them advised to have with.
Office operations:
We reuse used papers from both sides and recycle glass and cans.
Through tight management systems, we try to reduce paper consumption
and keep waste to minimum reusing used "old" papers from
both sides.
We use refilled ink and toner cartridges and send old brochures,
booklets from our partners and us to some language schools to let
the teachers use them as reading materials in and out classroom
where schools are not full supported with such reading materials.
Even electricity, gas and water are supported by the government
of our country free of charge, we aim to conserve and reduce our
energy consumption through improving management systems and using
equipment with lower energy use.
Social Responsibility
We ask our guests to respect the integrity of the local culture and
strive to avoid any negative impact on the social structure. Furthermore,
we strive to preserve both local heritage and the survival of fragile
communities.
We support our guests with briefing information in detail about
Turkmenistan's background, the Turkmen community, the local culture
and traditions and the local economy. This promotes responsible
and appropriate behaviour.
Our guides also teach guests some basic phrases such as greetings
and appreciations in a local language which remain some "unforgettable"
respects by the local community.
We try to persuade our overseas partners to keep all group sizes
small (max 16 people) to prevent our holidays becoming too intrusive
on local communities. This has the added benefit that all customers
are able to benefit from the knowledge of our tour guides.
In spite guests are welcomed everywhere in Turkmenistan by local
communities we mostly introduce tourists to areas where they welcomed
in local way. Before adding new destinations to our programme, we
always ensure that the local people are happy with this and fully
aware of the possible impacts of tourism.
We always treat people with respect, observe their cultural traditions
and avoid patronising attitudes, encourage our customers to do likewise,
by providing them with information about cultural/religious traditions
and values and encouraging them to learn some basics in the local
language.
We use our local guides who help guests to understand local customs
and traditions interact with local people and ensure at least a
minimum level of local involvement in our holidays.
We also regularly support community development projects (e.g. schools)
either directly or indirectly through our suppliers. With the growth
of DN Tours we aim to initiate and develop new community projects,
in areas where these could be beneficial to the people Turkmenistan.
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